I guess it's new news…

…if USA Today finally has it, but bloggers have been saying for days that all the House Ethics R's…

"...have financial links to Tom DeLay that could raise conflict-of-interest issues should the panel investigate the GOP majority leader."

That's why, although it may appear that Hastert is pulling the rug out from under the Bugman on the ethics rules, Tim Grieve nails the real point at (ob. subsription plug) Salon...

It's all well and good that House Republicans are willing to reverse the rule changes they made to protect Tom DeLay from any embarrassing investigations by the House ethics committee. The problem is, even if the ethics committee takes up an investigation of the house majority leader, it still may find itself hamstrung by the conflicts of interest afflicting -- not entirely coincidentally -- the Republicans on the committee.

If Hastert thinks he needs cover on ethics, we should make it clear that restoring the old rules will only work if he restores the pre-purge Republicans to the committee.